January 20, 2013

Israel’s Orthodox Election Committee Head Allows Haredi Party To Offer Blessings For Votes, Despite Law Forbidding It

Election Committee head Justice Elyakim Rubinstein – who is himself Orthodox – suggested that UTJ change the
text of the ad from “blessed with” to “merited with.” Another sentence
that had the phrase “will be blessed from the source of all blessings”
should be altered to “will merit all goodness from the source of all
bounty,” Rubinstein ordered.

The Ashkenazi haredi United Torah Judaism political party was ordered to change the text of a campaign ad that promised “sons, long life, and wealth” to anyone who votes for its Knesset list in Tuesday’s national elections, the Times of Israel reported.

The ad, titled “A Holy Calling” and signed by 28 leading haredi rabbis, was published in haredi newspapers.

Israel’s Central Elections Committee banned the ad after a complaint was made by Hiddush, a nonprofit organization that advocates for religious freedom and equality.

“The judge clarified that even great Torah scholars are not above the law. Even they can’t hand out blessings” in exchange for votes,” Hiddush’s head Rabbi Uri Regev told the Times of Israel.

However, Rubinstein – who is himself Orthodox – suggested that UTJ change the text of the ad from “blessed with” to “merited with.” Another sentence that had the phrase “will be blessed from the source of all blessings” should be altered to “will merit all goodness from the source of all bounty,” Rubinstein ordered.

These minor semantic changes do not change the meaning of the ad at all and would still seem to clearly violate Israel’s election law, which forbids parties to induce voters by invoking oaths, curses, divestment, boycotts, vows or promises to give a blessing. Breaking the law carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison or a fine.

But Rubenstein seems to interpret that law far more narrowly than it was intended or worded, parsing the words and meaning to allow the haredi party to continue to offer voters blessings as inducements for voting for it.

Two weeks ago Hiddush successfully petitioned against the Sefardi haredi Shas party, forcing it to remove the option of receiving a blessing from the party’s founder and spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef from a free smartphone application it distributed.

Rubenstein has yet to recommend that the state’s prosecutors prosecute any violation by either haredi party.

Comments

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A respected rabbi in Israel should publicly defy this law and dare the government to arrest him.
Also a PR campaign should be started exposing the true agenda of Hiddush exposing its leaders and sponsors for what they are people who are trying to use lawfare to suppress the right to practice our religion.
In every place Uri Regev speaks someone should get up and expose him for what he is.
Likewise people should contact Stanley Gold http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Gold and other major sponsors of Hiddush and ask them how is it that they have no shame supporting a modern day Yevsektzia in the land of Yisrael.

This is laughable. Does any of this really matter? Is this offer of a blessing for a vote really going to change anything, especially since the bearded wonder from Brooklyn is trying to bribe these same people not to vote at all? It's like a country within a country - Haredistan within Israel.

Here is a party that has some guts to stand up for what it believes in:
Environmentalists Won't Stop 'Choking Child' Shock Phone Calls
Israel's Green Party is refusing to halt its 'shock campaign,' in which a choking child is heard pleading for an end to air pollution
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By David Lev :http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/164419#.UP2VySfPbkQ